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Sun TV and its group companies can participate in the phase III auctions for FM Radio stations in Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Visakhapatnam.
This follows the Madras High Court setting aside orders of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting last July denying an opportunity to Sun TV Network and its group companies to participate in the third phase due to the denial of security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Aircel-Maxis dealOn July 15, 2015, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting published a list of broadcasters permitted to migrate from phase II to III.
The MHA denial was due to an investigation against Sun TV’s promoter Kalanithi Maran and his brother Dayanidhi Maran in a case related to the Aircel-Maxis deal.
Further, the Enforcement Directorate had charged the Maran brothers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the allegation of laundering ₹550 crore in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The CBI has charged Dayanidhi Maran of setting up 300 illegal telephone lines at the residence of his brother to facilitate Sun TV services, thereby gaining an illegal pecuniary advantage of ₹443 crore.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said any company controlled by a person convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude or money laundering/drug trafficking, terrorist activities are declared as insolvent or applied for being declared insolvent, is disqualified. The company as well as directors on the board shall be security cleared and the Ministry shall take security clearance of the company and its directors from relevant authorities.
Judge Duraiswamy in his order said the petitioner companies themselves have not been alleged to be vehicles of any transgression of law.
They have been functioning since 2002-03 without there being any allegation regarding their functioning resulting in any security concerns.
The companies have been operating their licences under phase I and II for over a decade.
Though the cases were registered against Maran brothers in 2011, the companies continued to operate their respective radio channels without any objection concerning security clearance issues.
In the absence of any evidence to show that the operation of radio channels by the petitioner companies would create security concerns, the denial of security clearance by Deputy Director, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cannot be accepted, the Judge said.
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